How to write an emotionally charged poem
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit Do you find that whenever you write a poem it seems flat or awkward? Here's a trick that will work every time and will help you express exactly what you want to express...... Steps Take a moment and scan your memories for one of your life's truly memorable moments. What constitutes as "memorable" is simply any experience from your past that you still think about and that you can still envision as if it were yesterday. Keep in mind it doesn't have to be a big event per se - it could be the memory of how you got a particular scar on your body.....or even as simple as the view from your bedroom window when you were a child. Memorable is just that - something you can't get out of your mind - even if you're not sure why it is that you remember that one particular moment. Write in a vertical column in the middle of the page all the words that come to mind when you think of this memory. Keep going till every last word that is important to the memory is listed on the page. Now what you have are all these words in a list in a column right down the middle of the page. But the words don't make any sense yet. For each word in the list, surround the word, before and after it, with words to complete a sentence. For example, one of your listed words might be "chicken". To round out the memory and make it all start making sense you complete the thought. So using the chicken example, your sentence might read: The burnt chicken you made for us. By adding these "surround" words you force yourself to build a sentence, not only in a way you wouldn't normally, but also with the exact words that make up your memory. (You'd be surprised how you can edit out the most important words or never even think of including them...) Now that you've added all your "surround" words, read it out loud. Make any small adjustments to the poem that will help the overall flow and rhythm. But don't edit out any of your original words on your list. The only words you should be editing are your surround words. Find an audience and bask in your ability to express yourself! Tips When you're making your list of words don't second-guess yourself. Be truthful to the exact words you think describe the experience, even if they seem like "unpoetic" words. Later when you've added your surround words you'll be glad of the initial words you picked because those words are responsible for truly describing your experience. Don't try to re-order the lines even if you're tempted to...poems are strongest when they don't follow the sequential order of events....instead by listing the words in whatever order they come into your mind you are building emotional impact into your poem and making it "more real" by allowing the reconstruction of the memory to come without worrying about the "proper" beginning, middle or end. If after you have added your surround words and completed the poem you still don't like how the poem sounds or you just think the poem stinks - don't delete it! Let it stand the test of time. Put it away and read it in a month or two. You might be very glad you just let it be without deleting it or throwing it away. After all poems are great ways to capture memories and whether or not you think it's a work of art - it probably does encapsulate your past experience better than any photo - and that is something worth keeping. Warnings Make sure your list of words isn't too short or you're going to end up with a "stub" of a poem. Don't think that you can go back to your initial list of words and add some more words. That moment when you begin listing words is crucial and it's usually a one shot deal. It's like a first kiss can only be a first kiss once. Same thing with the list of words - there's a magic in that first original list so don't start adding your surround words until you've fully exhausted your list. Related wikiHows How to Write Serious Gothic Poetry How to Become Inspired to Write Poetry How to Write a Limerick How to Write Dark Poems ---- Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on "How to Write an Emotionally Charged Poem". All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA-2.5 license. Category:How-to articles Category:Imported, updated, or created in 2011 Category:WikiHow articles